AnimumSerenum

"Give your children free reign to rule their lives as they see fit. No rules. No control. No formal les- sons. No chores. No bedtimes. Support your children’s interests, whatever they are. Treat your children as equals. There are no mistakes, there are only experiences. All limits are self-imposed. Listen to your children. Trust your children. Respect your children. These concepts are the very heart of unschooling and they violate everything ingrained in us by the world at large." 

" If you are to undertake this unschooling journey it is imperative that you understand not only the destination (death)  but the stops along the way (The stops are actually more important than the final destination, i.e. the journey is the destination) 

If our unschooling objective is to raise children who are truly free, who grow to adulthood with their spirits and sense of wonder and sense of selves intact then we must bring them to a place where that can happen, off the gulag, outside of Plato’s cave. This is the place that is safe for your children to become who they are, unbound, unshackled from the world of invented narratives that conspire to limit us" -- Jon Gold

"As a group we humans tend to define ourselves by our beliefs, in fact we oftenb e c o meour beliefs: 
I believe that my country is better than yours30, I believe that my religion31is the one true religion32,
I believe that my theory of economics is better than yours, I believe that my political system is better 
than yours, I believe that my school is better than yours, I believe that myweltanschauungis better 
than yours.

By extension, if my beliefs are better than yours, then I am better than you. And if I am better than
you then at some point it becomes okay for me to cheat you, oppress you, demean you, steal from
you, attack you, hate you, enslave you, control you, generally do whatever I want to do to you, especially if I am bigger and more powerful than you. This, in summary, is the history of manunkind and uncivilization; neighbor against neighbor, country against country, religion, against religion."

This world of invented narratives becomes a microcosm in our household when we apply it to our family. I am older than you, I am smarter than you, I am bigger than you, I am better than you, I’m right and you’re wrong and that means I can (and will) control you.

My country is better than yours? Countries are just lines drawn on a map; the lines often representing the place where some ancient armies finally stopped killing each other. There is no such thing as a country. My economic system is better than yours? All economic systems are just a way of formalizing barter. Reli-
gion? Religions are merely formalized superstitions and rituals meant to honor God38. Most people
don’t even realize that they are atheists. You are. And so is the person sitting next to you and every-
one you know. You areselectiveatheists. You don’t believe in Zeus, Baal, Thor, Shakti, Isis, Ra (...)


once you’ve seen your way out of the cave, most things that the other hu-

mans say or do will be ridiculous to you.

Having knowledge of the cave gives you complete control over your life. Again, isn’t that a wonder- ful gift to 
give your children? Letting them know that they are welcomed to humanity without hav- ing to be anything else, 
that they are valued just as they are, and that anything they want to do or become is within their control?

 

Jon Colt

http://www.thebarkingcow.com/2010/02/cult-of-unschooling.html